A Lifetime of Memories
by Andrasta14
Summary: New CH 2 up! Misaki found himself beginning to understand more and more the unnerving bitterness that Narumi had revealed on the first day that he'd met him. The phrase "Welcome to Alice Academy" was starting to seem like a curse...
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Alice Academy

Author's note: Gakuen Alice and all characters from it are, of course, the property of its creator Tachibana Higuchi-with the exception of any original characters that I may create myself.

This story will be exploring the long relationship between Narumi and Misaki and its evolution over time, from their antagonistic relationship as children up to their later friendship and increasingly complex connection in adulthood.

(You may have already read one of the later chapters that I had posted earlier while I was still finishing the first chapter, so here, finally, is the actual first chapter of the story...)

P.S. As far as I know Misaki's first name has never been offically revealed in the manga but it felt strange for one of my main characters to be without a first name so I just chose one based on the meaning that I felt was most significant to his character and in his juxtaposition to Narumi's character. The name translations are from what I found online. I'm so sorry about how weird it looks but the program keeps fighting my formatting, so hopefully you'll still be able to read the gist of it. You'll understand what I mean below...

This is my first fanfic, so please let me know what you think. Thanks!

A Lifetime of Memories

Prologue

The raven haired man quickly inserted his key and unlocked the door, eager to escape the early-February chill in the air that Saturday evening. Misaki entered the foyer of the Elementary Division's Faculty Housing quietly and stripped off his coat and dark woollen scarf, hanging them up on the gleaming wooden coat rack near the door as he made his way to the living room that was shared commonly by all the teachers residing within the house.

Misaki lingered a moment in the archway as caught sight of the room's single occupant who still hadn't noticed that the Plant Alice had returned. Narumi was sitting on one end of the sofa with his long legs curled up beneath a fleece throw and his golden head bent over a stack of Class B's compositions in his lap with an uncharacteristic frown of concentration on his face. Misaki noted that his friend was once again wearing gloves in the house, something that the blonde had taken to doing constantly ever since Christmas time and was making frequent markings on the paper in front of him with a red pen. The dark haired man came further into the room, making the language teacher look up.

"Misaki-sensei!" Narumi greeted him with a bright but bemused smile. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

Misaki gazed intently at his friend, observing with disquiet the paleness of his face and the shadows beneath his eyes despite the usual cheerfulness of his smile. He paused, uncertain what to say. "...I changed my mind. I didn't go." Misaki finally admitted as he sat down on the sofa beside Narumi.

The biology teacher had spent the better part of an hour simply wandering around Central Town aimlessly after having called the restaurant at the last minute and cancelling his date with a chemistry teacher from the Middle School. Misaki felt like a jerk for having agreed to the second date with the woman only to go all the way there and realize that he really didn't want to be there...

"What? But why?" Narumi pouted at him like a disappointed child. "You have so much in common!" And after all the trouble that the Pheromone Alice had gone to to talk up his single friend to the pretty new Chemistry teacher and convince a stubborn Misaki to go out with her...

"A little too much." The Plant Alice retorted as his friend gave a long suffering little sigh. "It's like I'm talking to myself- I can stay home if I want to do that. And would you stop trying to play matchmaker already? It's annoying." Misaki turned to look sternly at Narumi as he said this, hoping that the irrepressible blonde might actually listen to him for once.

"...I just...Sorry." His friend smiled apologetically. "I only wanted to help...I...I don't want you to be alone..." This last sentence came out in an involuntary whisper and Misaki's dark gaze lit to Narumi's face, to the smile that he was endeavouring to form...but all Misaki could see was the sadness in it and in his emerald eyes that he was trying so unsuccessfully to hide.

"I'm not alone." Misaki said quietly, faltering slightly but forcing the next words to come out firmly. "I'm...already where I want to be."

The raven haired man looked intently at his long-time friend, into his eyes, trying to will his unspoken words into Narumi's mind.

_I am with you..._

Misaki watched silently as the blonde's eyes widened with understanding and something that looked an awful lot like trepidation but the Plant Alice forced himself to wait as a myriad of emotions flickered across his face. Narumi's lips parted as if to speak but no words came out as he stared back at Misaki with such an unexpectedly open vulnerability in his eyes, caught off guard and so visibly shaken that Misaki moved instinctively to cover his friend's gloved hand firmly with his own. Narumi swallowed nervously with painful uncertainty and let out a shaky breath as he finally gave Misaki a gentle and moved smile and slowly turned his palm up beneath his long-time friend's hand and held it in his, not letting go...

o-o-o

**NARUMI** f Japanese o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**MISAKI** **美咲 **f Japanese

**Meaning: Growing beauty;** o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**From Japanese**

**may be written with the characters **o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**_美__(mi)_ "beautiful"**

**(naru) "turn into; grow; elapse; reach"** o-o-o-o-o-o-**and _咲__(saki)_ "blossom".**

**and _美_(mi) "beauty; beautiful"**

o-o-o

**ANJU **f Japanese o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**KENSHIN** 謙信 m Japanese

**May be written with the characters **o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**From Japanese**

**(an) "apricot' and (ju) "timber trees; wood" **o-o-o**_謙__(ken)_ "modest" and _信__(shin)_ "truth".**

o-o-o-o-o

Chapter 1: Welcome to Alice Academy

21 years earlier...

The homeroom teacher for The National Research Institute of Alice Academy's Class A Elementary Branch was an older man with a thinning head of mostly silver hair and a severe face with a forbidding demeanour to match. As he entered the first class of the morning with a faintly irritated expression a small boy of six years old reluctantly trailed after him. The boy's large brown eyes widened as he took in the chaos of the classroom and he unconsciously inched a bit closer to the strict man in apprehension, despite having instinctively disliked him from the first time he'd met him just this morning when he had introduced himself as 'Nishimura-sensei'.

There was a red-headed girl who was walking in mid air like it was the most natural thing in the world and a large hurricane of school books were hurtling through the air above the student's heads in a flurry. A blond haired boy ducked swiftly and nonchalantly as a large textbook nearly collided with his head and slid into a seat three rows from the back. A brown haired boy reached to seize a book from the air but missed it. The new boy gasped as the boy's arm suddenly stretched several metres in length and caught the book, bringing it back to himself effortlessly. Many other children of a wide variety of ages were either standing around talking, shouting or just running around.

"Everyone in your seats!" Nishimura-sensei growled at them and some of the children froze immediately at the sound of his baritone voice and quickly moved to their designated seats. Some of the wilder ones continued as if he hadn't spoken until the man bellowed at them, "Now! Move it! The last person still standing will be cleaning the Gomi Bako (throwing-up bins) every day for the rest of the week!"

It was as if a wave of terror had run through all of the rebellious students and they scrambled for their seats like it was a game of musical chairs. The new arrival stood beside the teacher's desk and wondered what on earth 'Gomi Bako' was. To add to the chaos of the students' mad dashes the textbooks that had been hurtling through the air had stopped and begun thundering down on their collective heads. "Watch it, Ojima-kun!" came many disgruntled shouts at the source of the falling books. One boy shoved another out of his way to make it to his seat in time and the boy, half-fallen into another desk, looked around in dread as he realized that he was the last student standing. The boy's face sunk and he wordlessly threw himself into his chair as the towering silver-haired man made a note of his name high on the blackboard alongside the characters for 'Gomi Bako duty-one week'.

"Good morning, class," began Nishimura stiffly, "we have a new first grade student joining us this morning. Say hello to Misaki Kenshin." Only a handful of students actually obeyed the instruction to say hello but nearly all eyes were riveted in curiosity on the solemn, brown eyed, sleek black-haired boy and he nervously looked at the floor. _Nearly_ all eyes that was- the exception being the blonde boy that Misaki remembered having seen ducking the flying textbook earlier; he was the only one who hadn't seemed to have even glanced at him. He had his chin propped up on his hand with an air of supreme boredom, gazing out the window.

Murmurs arose in the room and an older boy shouted, "What's his Alice?"

"I'm sure Misaki-kun can tell you that himself, all in good time." Nishimura said in a reprimanding tone at the interruption. "Now, as I'm sure you all know it is customary for new students to be assigned a partner to help them acclimate to life in the academy...Are there any volunteers?"

There was a long silence and everyone fell still. Finally, a girl with long chestnut hair who looked a few years older than Misaki raised her hand from the front row.

The teacher turned his head about as though he was still looking for volunteers, "No one? Well, that's unfortunate..." Misaki looked up at him questioningly- couldn't he see the girl that had raised her hand? She was only a few desks away from him. "I suppose I'll have to assign a partner...and my decision is final...Narumi Anju!"

To Misaki's slight surprise the blonde boy looking out the window slowly turned his head in recognition; wasn't 'Anju' a girl's name? The girl who had raised her hand frowned slightly and lowered it quickly. Misaki glanced up at the teacher, unnerved by the hard look in his eyes as he glared at the boy he had unilaterally volunteered. And the look that this 'Narumi Anju' was levelling the man with wasn't much better- he'd narrowed his eyes, glowering at Nishimura before rolling his eyes contemptuously and returning his gaze to the window. The teacher's expression darkened and Misaki shifted anxiously, wanting to distance himself from the livid man but having not been assigned a seat yet.

"Misaki-kun," Nishimura said in a tense voice, "you may sit with your partner from now on, since there's so much room." The teacher pointed directly at the blonde boy and Misaki felt a pang of dread.

He _really_ had been partnered with the glowering boy...and he could see what the teacher meant. The classroom was laid out in rows of long tables with long benches behind them. Each bench could easily accommodate at least three students comfortably...maybe four if they were small but Narumi, curiously, was the only child in the whole class who had a bench all to himself.

"Yes, sir." Misaki said quietly, clutching his textbook tightly to his chest as he made his way back to where the blonde boy was sitting. He set his book down on the corner of the desk and removed his book bag from his back, setting it on the bench. Narumi glanced sharply at him with vivid emerald eyes as he sat down at one end but other than that made no move to obstruct Misaki from sitting next to him.

"Ojima-kun," he heard Nishimura's deep voice demand sharply, "Pick up all these textbooks you've thrown about and hand them out to your classmates...Move quickly! Unless, of course, you'd like to assist in Gomi Bako duty after school?" A boy of a similar age to Misaki with an unruly head of curly black hair moved rapidly to his task upon the threat.

In the mean while, Misaki-who had never been a particularly talkative kid to begin with even if he wasn't already instinctively wary of the blonde boy- reluctantly forced himself to turn and greet his new partner.

"Um, hi," he began tentatively, "...I'm Misaki."

"I heard." His partner stated dully, not lifting his gaze from the manga he was openly reading in class.

Misaki paused awkwardly when the boy said no more, continuing uncertainly, "...You're, ah...your name is Anju-kun?"

The blonde's head suddenly turned with a scowl, "It's Narumi." He said shortly and went back to his manga.

"Uh, yeah, sure...Narumi-kun." Misaki responded quickly and slowly turned to face forward again anxiously. Narumi sure wasn't going out of his way to be friendly...

Ojima came around shortly with a put upon expression and set a textbook in front of each of them and Misaki seized upon it immediately, grateful for the distraction whilst his partner simply ignored it in favour of his extracurricular reading. Nishimura instructed the class to turn to page two hundred and fifty-four and Misaki complied mechanically, flipping to the correct page but staring down at it unseeingly. The boy knew that he should be paying attention to the lesson- Kami knows he didn't want to get on that teacher's bad side, especially on his first day- but he couldn't seem to get his mind to focus on Nishimura's voice. His mind was filled with a flurry of thoughts of the last several days and his breath was tight in his chest with anxiety.

He didn't want to be here.

He just wanted to go home.

Yesterday morning Misaki had been called into the principal's office at the rural elementary school in his small village from class and saw to his surprise that his mother was there sitting in a chair in front of the principal's desk. Misaki was further unnerved when he saw that they were not alone- also sitting in the office were two men in identical black suits that Misaki had never seen before. His mother pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him and wringing her hands together anxiously. The strange men looked intently between Misaki and his mother as they introduced themselves as representatives of The National Research Institute of Alice Academy in smooth and formal tones. Alice Academy they explained to his mother was a prestigious institution for gifted children sponsored by the government and that they were offering a sought after position to her son.

His mother had quickly begun to protest against their insinuation that her son was 'gifted'- while Misaki wasn't a bad student he wasn't exactly at the top of his class either- but the men merely smiled and one of them lifted an empty Styrofoam cup that looked as those it had formerly had some kind of dirt in it. Misaki's mother stared at it, puzzled, but the boy recognized the name of a friend of his written in permanent marker on the side. The man then turned his attention from his mother to Misaki and began to ask him questions about his friend's school project and the help that the little girl had said that he gave her with it. Misaki stared back at them with wide brown eyes, nervous and unable to speak.

He hadn't really done much of anything- Misaki had only held a tiny handful of flower seeds for his friend while she had made a hole in the soil in the Styrofoam cup and then dropped them in for her. But...he wasn't supposed to do even that. Misaki's father had told the school that Misaki was severely allergic to all kinds of plants and flowers and as such he was always excused from participating in any type of class project that involved either. Misaki knew that that was a lie but it was one that his father had told and made him tell ever since kindergarten. His father had knelt down until their faces were nearly level and put his hands on Misaki's shoulders and explained to him the most serious expression that the boy had ever seen on his father's face that it was for his own protection. No one must ever know the strange kinds of things that Misaki was able to do with plants.

Misaki had always liked making pretend gardens in his sandbox at home, digging neat little rows and 'planting' little rocks and leaves and blades of grass beneath the sand just like he saw his mother do. One time when he was four or five his mother had given him a little patch of her garden to play in, letting him plant flower bulbs there and he'd dug in happily. His teacher at school had read a story to the class- 'Through the Looking Glass' or something it had been called Misaki thought- and the boy had been captured by the idea of large talking flowers with faces. Perhaps it was because Misaki had been imagining this very thing so intently... pretending that he really was planting flowers that would grow up quickly and be able to talk to him, that it really happened.

One afternoon after school a few weeks later he had been playing in the backyard when he heard his mother shouting and he'd run to her. He was shocked to find her pale and trembling, her eyes wide with fear as she attacked Misaki's flowers with a pair of hedge clippers. They had grown huge in such a short period of time and Misaki could still remember the screams that the flowers had made as his mother had cut them down and was utterly stunned to hear their voices begging her not to kill them. Misaki had run forward crying for his mother to stop but she had been terrified and had pushed him away and had continued hacking away until they were all dead.

Misaki had cried for over an hour that afternoon after his mother had called his father home early from work and had barely been able to sleep that night. He kept having dreams about the flowers screaming in pain and begging him to save them. He'd ended up sleeping in his parent's room that night and several others, sandwiched in between his mom and dad.

The boy had clung to his mother's hands surrounding him in the principal's office as he stared fearfully at the men in black. They knew, he realized. Something must have happened with the seeds that he had held for his friend, even though he had barely had any contact him them. Misaki shank back pressing himself against his mother- was it these men that his father had meant when he had spoken about Misaki's protection?

_It must have been_, Misaki thought in distress as he sat in his seat at Alice Academy staring at the page in front of him with tear-blurred eyes. Later that evening those same men has showed up at his house and even though his mom and dad hadn't wanted to give him to them in the end, somehow, he had ended up being led by them into a large shining black car and taken away. Misaki could still see his mother in his mind's eye as she had run out of the house and across the lawn, trying in vain to reach him as the men drove away.

Misaki tried to blink his tears back but a few drops escaped his eyes and fell on the textbook page open in front of him. He rubbed his eyes dry as surreptitiously as he could and sneaked a glance at Narumi, but fortunately he seemed to have not noticed the boy's tears. The blonde's eyes were lowered to the manga beneath the veil of his eyelashes.

_His lashes are so long_, Misaki observed distantly, _just like a girl's_... _Blonde hair and green eyes...he must be a foreigner. But his name is Japanese so he must be at least part Japanese, even though he doesn't look it. _

Misaki had never seen so many kids of so many nationalities in one place before he had arrived at Alice Academy. In Misaki's small rural elementary school there had probably been maybe only a few dozen foreigners in the whole school and only two of them in his class. One of them, a girl from England with long, light brown hair and pensive hazel eyes had been his best friend since kindergarten. Misaki had always been a rather shy boy and hadn't had a lot of friends but Akemi-chan had been the only kid in his class to seemed to read as much and as well as he did and Misaki had somehow been drawn to her. He wondered if he would ever see her again...if he would ever see his parents again.

When he had asked Nishimura-sensei this morning if he could call his mom, at least, so she wouldn't worry the man had firmly replied that students of Alice Academy weren't allowed to have contact with anyone in the outside world, not even their parents.

_What kind of place is this school_, Misaki raged in disbelief, _that they can just take kids away from their parents?_

Bang! Misaki jumped, jarred instantly from his thoughts, as Nishimura brought down a wooden metre stick down with a sharp crack on the front of his table. His whole body instinctively tensed and his heart thudded in his ears as he stared up at the irritated teacher with wide eyes. Nishimura's ire, however, was directed at the manga-reading blonde who's head had jerked up to look at the man with a similarly startled expression. Narumi's countenance almost instantly resolved itself into a look of wary watchfulness whereas the new arrival Misaki sat apprehensively beside him, not knowing what to expect.

"Narumi-kun," Nishimura's deep voice came, gravely sardonic, "Since your grasp of the subject matter must clearly be formidable to be so freely indulging in non-school related reading material during my lesson perhaps you would grace your classmates with an answer to the question I've just asked?"

The emerald-eyed boy raised delicate eyebrows as he fidgeted slightly, "Um...would you mind repeating the question, Sensei?"

"Yes, I would." The teacher replied flatly, pausing a moment before adding, "Perhaps your partner can repeat the question for you..."

_Crap_. And here Misaki had thought that he had dodged the bullet with Nishimura.

There was what felt like an incredibly long and tense pause before Narumi very reluctantly and very slowly turned his head to regard Misaki, lifting his eyebrows at the raven-haired boy with a prompting look that seemed to say, "_Well_?". Misaki just cringed beneath the intent stares of his classmate and teacher, sitting rigidly and finally muttering an apology under his breath.

"How disappointing, Misaki-kun..." Nishimura murmured condescendingly with a slight shake of his head before turning his attention back to his equally clueless partner. "Since you are unable to provide a correct answer I expect more attention paid- _by the both of you_- from now on." Narumi opened his mouth with a glare to rebuttal against this but then promptly shut it again, as if thinking better of it.

"Yes, Sensei." The blonde replied curtly and Misaki quickly echoed his sentiments.

"And as for this..." The older man said sternly, reaching out a hand to Narumi's manga, "You may have this back at the end of detention after school."

Narumi's eyes flashed at the mention of detention and as Nishimura withdrew, book in hand, the boy swiftly caught his hand with his smaller one. The man's eyes widened and Misaki gawked, taken aback by the blonde's audacity.

"Well..." The corners of Narumi's mouth drifted upwards in a sweet smile as he met Nishimura's gaze from beneath the veil of his lashes. Misaki felt his apprehension dissipate like fog melting away against the burning of the sun. The older man's countenance rapidly drained of its characteristic sternness and irritation, gentling as the harsh lines of his face calmed into an open expression.

"...I _would_ like to spend more time with you, Nishimura-sensei, even if it's in detention I wouldn't mind...if it was you." The blonde boy continued amiably as he cupped his chin casually in his free hand.

The teacher's eyes widened in pleased surprise and a smile burst forth on his face, "Really? You would?" Misaki sat riveted by Narumi's charming countenance and tone; his gaze locked on the boy's radiant face, but was dimly in the back of his mind aware that the other kids in the class had turned around to stare at the scene.

"Of course!" Narumi replied warmly as he nonchalantly retrieved his manga from Nishimura's distracted grasp with his other hand and set it in his lap and simultaneously shifted his small hand more securely into the man's now empty palm. "You're my favourite teacher...why wouldn't I want to spend for time with you?" The man's pale deeply lined face flushed slightly with delight at this declaration. "...But as much as I want to...I can't come after school..." The blonde's large green eyes gazed sadly up at Nishimura as he clutched tighter at the man's hand. "I'm really sorry...please don't be angry with me, Sensei..."

Nishimura pulled in a sharp breath, a pained look in his eyes at Narumi's sorrowful and pleading tone, "No...no, Narumi-kun, I'm not angry...I could never be angry at you. It's alright if you can't come; I understand..."

The blonde smiled in relief, "Oh, I knew you would...Nishimura-sensei is a very understanding teacher. Sensei..." Narumi looked at the older man kindly, "I hope you don't mind my saying so but you seem kind of tired..."

Nishimura lifted a hand to his cheek, seeming touched by the boy's concern, "Well, yes, a little..."

The blonde squeezed his hand, "You shouldn't work so hard, Sensei. You should take more time for yourself...In fact, why don't you go back to the staff room and relax for a while? You deserve it."

"Hmm...yes. You're right..." The teacher murmured to himself. "But..."

Narumi sat up straighter and smiled brightly, "Oh, don't worry about us, Sensei, we'll be fine...You just go and rest."

Nishimura seemed a bit dazed as he replied, "Yes, I think I will. Thank you, Narumi-kun...Such a sweet boy..." The teacher muttered to himself as he drifted out of the classroom with a soft smile on his face. The students watched their teacher walk out of the room with twenty minutes still left of class in a stunned and uneasy silence.

Narumi smirked to himself, quite pleased, but jerked abruptly when he realized that the new boy that Nishimura had bestowed upon him in vengeance had scooted over until he was so close that the blonde nearly brushed his nose against Misaki's cheek when he turned his head. Narumi's face scrunched up in annoyance and he hit the boy soundly upside the head with his manga. Crying out in surprise, Misaki clutched at the side of his throbbing head as the blonde boy unceremoniously slid out of his seat, grabbed his book bag and made for the door.

"Hey!" exclaimed the older girl with long chestnut hair who had volunteered in vain to be Misaki's partner earlier, standing up abruptly and setting her hands on her narrow hips. "Narumi-kun, where do you think you're going?"

The blonde paused and turned to flash the girl an impish grin over his shoulder, "Relax, Prez, you'll get old before your time...that old geezer's not coming back before the end of class..." With that cocky assertion Narumi sauntered out while the brunette stood frowning.

Misaki found himself shaking his head as if to clear it. _What the heck just happened? _he wondered in bewilderment.

The boy remembered clearly what had just taken place but now that Narumi had gone it was as if his understanding of the situation had gone with him. Somehow, it had seemed _completely_ natural scarcely a minute ago to do whatever the blonde boy had wanted but now...

"You look confused." Misaki looked up to realize that the older girl was now standing in front of his desk. Several students began to leave their seats and soon enough the chaos that Misaki had witnessed when he had first come in with Nishimura at the beginning of class resumed. The girl whirled around on the class, "Nishimura-sensei could still come back so don't any of you leave!" One guy rolled his eyes, a girl waved her hand dismissively and the others just ignored the older girl's statement. She sighed and turned back to Misaki, "Oh, well, it's not my problem if they get punished...Your name is Misaki, right? I'm Kimura Hikari. I'm the class president for Class A...so if you have any questions or anything I'm here to help."

"Um, thanks...Kimura-san..." Misaki said uncertainly.

The girl smiled as if amused, "Oh, you can call me Kimura-chan or even 'Prez' if you want. A lot of kids do. Anyway, sorry you got stuck with Narumi-kun; you kind of came on a bad day. Nishimura-sensei's still mad about something Narumi-kun did yesterday..."

Misaki blinked, "What did he do yesterday? And _what_ just happened? Is it just me, or was that really weird? It's like he _did _something but..."

"Oh, that was Narumi's Alice!" Burst out the flying textbook boy from earlier, Ojima-kun, who had been listening. "He's always doing stuff like that! He has a Human Pheromone Alice...so basically he can make people do whatever he wants. Even the teachers can't say no to him!"

Misaki frowned and repeated carefully, "Human Pher-o-mone? Like with animals and insects?" The Plant Alice had always been fascinated by science and had spent hours and hours reading about various subjects (being at an advanced reading-level for his age) and he vaguely recalled having read something about pheromones in relation to different animals, insects and plants.

"Yeah, that kind, but Naru's works on people," Ojima explained. "I heard some of the teachers talking about him once and Nishimura said that Narumi's Alice is unusually powerful for his age- that's why they made him a double star even though he's always causing trouble."

"Double star?" Misaki repeated questioningly.

"You just got here so you don't have a ranking yet," began Kimura, "but all of the students at Alice Academy-from the elementary branch to the high school-all have an assigned ranking. They'll probably give you one maybe at the end of the week. Most of the students at the elementary level are one-stars. The little kids- that is the children in kindergarten or younger don't usually have a ranking- they're considered no-stars. There are only a handful of students in the elementary division that have more than one star and there are only two in our class that do."

Misaki noticed the two gold stars neatly affixed to the front of Kimura's uniform, "You're a double star, too..."

The girl blushed slightly, "Um, yeah...Anyway, as I said, if you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I'm afraid Narumi-kun won't be much help...Sensei really shouldn't have made him your partner..."

"Yeah," Ojima agreed, pulling a face, "That kid only knows how to help himself! I got demoted to _no-star_ for a _whole week _yesterday because of him! Narumi and me were both late for class yesterday morning and the punishment for being late is cleaning the Gomi Bako- which is just _disgusting _by the way, so don't be late! Anyway, Nishimura was on Gomi Bako duty after school yesterday and he dragged me and Naru down there to clean it but then Narumi used his Alice on him and made _Nishimura _clean the Gomi Bako instead!" The curly haired boy snickered in remembrance. "And Sensei did it with a huge smile on his face, too...It was hilarious! Well, that was until the principal and Sawajiri-sensei-that's the new English teacher- walked by and saw Nishimura up to his elbows in puke. He's the head teacher for the elementary division, you know, so I guess it looked really bad...You should have seen his face...the whole thing was red! He was _so_ mad! I never heard him yell like that before-especially not at Narumi...that kid gets away with murder around here! So he demoted both of us to no-star for a week, which is _fine_ for Naru- _he's _the one who can't just take his punishment like everyone else! But _me_? I didn't even do anything! I got punished just because I was there!"

Misaki listened with wide eyes, a little overwhelmed by the flood of information.

"And now Nishimura-sensei's using you to get back at Narumi." Kimura explained calmly. "Hopefully he'll calm down in a few days though and you can ask him to let you sit somewhere else. Being that close to Narumi-kun can really only get you into trouble..."

"Yeah, you already got hit in the cross-fire, I saw you!" Ojima chuckled and dropped onto the bench beside Misaki. "You _totally_ got hit by Naru's Pheromones- you had that goofy look on your face that people always seem to get around him. You're just lucky he was after Nishimura and not you! Really, the best thing you can hope for at this point is that he'll just keep ignoring you because, trust me, you don't want that guy to take notice of you!"

"Ojima-kun!" Kimura exclaimed, "Don't tell him things like that! You're scaring him! Narumi-kun is a trouble maker, yes, but he really just likes to make mischief, that's all. He's not really a bad kid- he's just kind of spoiled. He's used to getting his own way-"

"He's used to getting his own way? He's a tyrant, you mean!" Ojima retorted and Misaki looked back and forth between the two. "He's our very own 'Tyrant Prince'!"

"Ojima-kun, don't say things like that!" The class president protested.

"What?" he shot back. "_You're_ the one who came up with that name after he made you do that ridiculous dance at the school assembly in front of everyone-" Kimura's face reddened as the boy snickered and she gave Ojima a hard punch in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"Anyway..." The girl interjected quickly. "Homeroom is the only class that we all have together so if you need anything, Misaki-kun, you can talk to me in the morning. We're all considered 'Class A' because there are so few of us, but they split us up by grade for our academic subjects. They teach all of the five and under kids together. First and second graders like you and Ojima-kun are grouped together, too, so, Ojima-kun, you try and help out Misaki-kun, okay? I'm in the third grade so I have separate classes from you guys-"

"Hey, Hikari-chan," called a pretty girl with cornflower blue eyes and long pale blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail, "Are you coming? Class is almost over."

Kimura turned to glance at the similarly-aged-looking girl, "Yeah, just a minute...Oh, Misaki-kun, this is my friend Yamada Serina; she's in third grade, too. And this..." The brunette tilted her head to try to see a small boy with a pale, timid face and long jet black hair tied back in a ribbon that was clinging to Serina's hand, half hidden behind her. "This is Fututan-kun... come on out from there. It's okay...come on." The class president smiled coaxingly and extended a hand to the shy little boy peering nervously at Misaki with round brown eyes but he just held on tighter to the blonde girl, burying his face in her skirt.

Kimura gave a little shrug, glancing at Misaki, "Oh, well...he's only four- almost anyway- and he just started here a few months ago...We've got to go though, so I'll see you later, Misaki-kun. Ojima-kun can show you where your next class is..." She looked expectantly at the curly-haired boy and he jerked his head in put upon acknowledgement.

Ojima stood up and went to collect his book bag from his desk, "All right, let's go then." Misaki quickly followed suit and trailed after the second grader out of the classroom, glancing briefly over his shoulder to where Kimura was trying to separate a crying Fututan from Serina's leg. "So, I forgot to ask...what's your Alice...?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

By the time lunch hour arrived Misaki was picking morosely at his food, too anxious to eat anything as he sat at a table by himself surrounded by a intimidating sea of students grouped together laughing and talking in the cafeteria. Misaki recognized Kimura Hikari and Yamada Serina sitting at a table in the distance with a bunch of other girls he didn't know. Finally, he plucked the apple from his tray and left the rest of his lunch on the table, making his way outside on his own as Ojima had deserted him in favour of his friends. Although Autumn was on its way it was still a nice, sunny day and the fresh air and open space made Misaki feel fractionally better.

The Plant Alice noticed that the so-called 'Tyrant Prince of Class A' Narumi seemed to have had a similar idea. The blonde boy was sitting cross-legged and solitary at the foot of a tree not far outside the elementary school building with an open book in one hand and half a sandwich in the other. Narumi didn't look up as Misaki passed and the raven-haired boy just avoided him along with anyone else who happened to be outside, not in any mood to have to talk to anyone. He wandered absently, lost in his own thoughts and worries, not paying any real attention to where he was going.

Misaki ambled along, munching at his apple, continuing to walk until he was obstructed by a long series of hedges running along in both directions. The boy was about to turn and walk back the way he came when he saw something that made him pause. Were those _roses _that he saw peeking over the edge of the hedges? Misaki tossed aside his apple core and started to travel along the short wall of hedges, looking intently for an opening. Finally, he came to a series of bushes that seemed to have ample space beneath them and he crawled on his hands and knees until he reached the other side.

The Plant Alice climbed back to his feet and brushed at the dirt on his bare knees as he looked around in wonder. Surrounding Misaki was the most beautiful and expansive garden that he had ever seen...He turned around slowly in a circle, gaping in amazement, he had never seen so many different kinds of flowers and varying hues of cherry trees in his life. It was still and silent but for the chirping of unseen birds and the air was fragrant with a myriad of perfumes...

Misaki felt tears pricking his eyes as he stared at all the roses...there were so many! He wished that his mom could see this... Roses were her favourite...his mother would have _loved _this place...The boy felt his face crumple as hot tears streamed down his face. Suddenly he was seized roughly by the back of his uniform by an unseen hand...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Nishimura was at his desk composing questions for Class B's upcoming math test when a knock sounded on the faculty room door. He turned in his padded straight-backed chair to see a young teacher from the Middle School Division cross over to him dragging a reluctant and dirty looking Misaki behind her.

"Good afternoon, Nishimura-sensei..." The young woman greeted politely. "I found this student trespassing on the Hanahime shrine grounds. Hi-sama is very upset...she insists that this intruder be punished."

Nishimura's bushy grey eyebrows arched as he glanced with a frown at the six-year-old 'intruder'. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sakamoto-sensei. Please send my sincere apologies to the Headmistress for any inconvenience that may have been caused. Misaki-kun is a new student- he's only just started this morning, in fact- I'm sure he didn't mean to trespass."

"Ah, I see..." Sakamoto-sensei relinquished her grip on Misaki. "Well then, I'll leave him to you. Good day, Nishimura-sensei."

"Yes, thank you, you too..." The older man replied as the Middle School teacher left. Nishimura turned to regard the boy's red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained face, paused and then sighed tiredly, "I'm going to assume that you didn't know that you that elementary students are not permitted to leave our part of the campus, Misaki-kun, and I'll let you off with a warning this time. Don't let it happen again."

Misaki left out the breath that he hadn't realized that he'd been holding in relief, "I won't, sir. I'm sorry, Sensei..."

Nishimura glanced down at the boy's dirty knees and shoes, "Class starts in less than ten minutes...Go and clean yourself up and don't be late."

The boy nodded and fled to look for the nearest washroom- he had totally thought that Nishimura would surely rake him over the coals...so whatever the reason for his unexpected leniency Misaki was grateful for it...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It shortly became evident that while _Misaki_ had been let off the hook Nishimura hadn't let slide the Headmistress' insistence on punishment for the intrusion. The Plant Alice sagged with relief as he crossed the correct threshold to his math class after he had spent the last several minutes thundering down the halls in search of his next class.

_Boy, that was close! _Misaki thought as the bell rang sounding the beginning of class. _I was barely five seconds away from Gomi Bako duty!_

He sought rapidly for the nearest empty seat, not wanting to give Nishimura-who was also their math teacher- the chance to make him sit next to Narumi again. As he went by the blonde's seat- which Narumi once more had all to himself-Misaki tripped and went down hard, banging his mouth on the corner of the next bench. Covering his stinging and bleeding lip with his hand, the dark haired boy turned to look over his shoulder wide-eyed at Narumi's booted foot sticking out in the aisle.

"Thanks a lot, idiot!" The Pheromone Alice hissed, glowering down at him. Misaki cringed and painfully forced himself to his feet on throbbing and bruised knees, standing red-faced with humiliation in the aisle.

Nishimura looked coldly at him from the front of the class, unimpressed by his injuries. "Find a seat, Misaki-kun...You're holding up the class."

Misaki looked around anxiously at his indifferent classmates. Finally Ojima called his name. "Misaki-kun, there's room over here!" The Plant Alice wiped at his bleeding lip and limped over to Ojima as quickly as he could, sitting down gratefully. The boy slid a math textbook over to him silently and the lesson began. About fifteen minutes later Nishimura left the room after assigning them a selection of problems to work on. Misaki anxiously peered over his shoulder at Narumi who glared back fixedly at him and he whipped his head back around.

Ojima's earlier words about the blonde came back to him, _'Really, the best thing you can hope for at this point is that he'll just keep ignoring you because, trust me, you don't want that guy to take notice of you!' _If the ferocity of Narumi's glare was any indication Misaki felt certain that the tyrannical boy had finally taken notice of him...

"So..." drawled Ojima in a voice barely above a whisper, "I heard that you made a visit to the Hanahime shrine." Misaki's head turned sharply towards him; how did he know that?

The raven-haired boy protested in a similarly hushed tone, "It was an accident- I didn't know that I wasn't allowed there!"

"Yeah, and Nishimura gave Narumi an earful about it just before you got here." The second grader informed.

"What?" Misaki muttered, "But why, it's not like he was with me when I went there..."

Ojima just shook his head, "Doesn't matter...Not to Nishimura. He made Naru your partner and since it's _his _job to make sure you know the school rules, Sensei said from now on that any of _your_ mistakes would be _his_ mistakes, too."

"That's crazy!" The Plant Alice whispered. "Besides, it was an accident- I didn't do it on purpose! He didn't even punish me; he just gave a warning..."

The other boy just shrugged, "Well, he might not have punished _you _but he's punishing Narumi- which is worse because now Naru's pissed at you. Sensei gave him detention for the next three days and he says if Naru doesn't show up for all of them he'll be demoted to no-star for another week! And he said it to him from the front of the class so Narumi couldn't use his Alice to get out of it and Naru can't _stand_ being a no-star so I guess he'll have to go..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

By the time Misaki's first day mercifully ended he felt like he really _had _been raked over a bed of hot coals. He trailed listlessly behind the robotic dorm mother/housekeeper as it led him to the room that it said had been temporarily assigned to him by the school. Not even the impossible sight of a real, live, functioning _robot_ was enough to jar the boy out of his melancholy as he followed it up yet another flight of stairs, with his small suitcase clutched tightly in his hand.

When the men in the black suits had arrived here with him last night after a very long car ride, they had placed Misaki in a cramped and dusty room that looked like it was used for storage with a fold up cot for the night. They had said that there wasn't a room available for him yet and that he would be moved again later when there was one.

The dorm mother finally stopped at a worn looking wooden door in what seemed to Misaki to be the massive attic of the elementary dormitory and knocked on the door.

"What?" came a petulant sounding voice and Misaki stiffened. Was he going to have a roommate? The robot opened the door and ushered the Plant Alice in. Misaki came to an abrupt halt as _Narumi_ looked at him in disbelief from where he was sitting on one of two of the single beds by the window.

"Oh, you've _got _to be kidding me?" Narumi growled, glaring at his unwanted partner and now apparently undesired roommate. He just couldn't get away from this boy! It was like some twisted God had tied them together with a red string of fate as some annoying joke! And his hand was still sore from the detention that he had just spent with Nishimura, forced to copy from the dictionary for forty-five minutes straight. If nothing else, all of the detentions that he had acquired today would certainly improve his vocabulary...

"I don't kid, Narumi-kun," the dorm mother stated flatly, "This is the only room that has a bed available for a no-star student...unless, of course, one of you wouldn't mind sharing the big room with the kindergarteners and nursery aged children?" The blonde looked appalled at the suggestion and Misaki wondered for a moment whether it would be better or worse to have to share a room with a bunch of near-toddlers. "...I thought not." The robot said knowingly and turned to leave, "I will leave you to unpack and remember: any misbehaviour will result in further penalty. Have a good evening, Narumi-kun and Misaki-kun." With that the dorm mother left and softly closed the door behind it.

Narumi gave a snort of contempt and flopped back on the bed, "Have a good evening...right! Kami, this room is disgusting...I can't believe they make those little kids live up here!"

Misaki stood rigidly by the door and glanced around at the bare, dusty and dimly lit little room. He squinted...was that a _cobweb_ above that rickety old bed that he was supposed to sleep in? The Plant Alice stepped forward tentatively and placed his suitcase on the dusty coverlet and shivered against the chilly draft of the room. Didn't they have any heat in this room? If Narumi couldn't stand being a no-star Misaki really couldn't say he blamed him- and what did he just say about little kids? Kimura had said earlier, he remembered suddenly, something about the kids five years and under being no-stars. Fututan's pale and crying face as he had left homeroom that morning with Ojima flashed in his mind.

Was this really how they made those little kids live in this so-called 'prestigious institution for gifted children'?

Misaki looked down at the dusty coverlet and cringed at the thought of having to sleep there. He glanced hesitantly at Narumi who was lying on his bed staring up blankly at the ceiling, "Um...what are the chances of getting new sheets and blankets?" The Pheromone Alice's bedding looked _much_ fresher than his.

"Do I look like a housekeeping robot?" Narumi replied scornfully, sitting up and seizing his book bag before unceremoniously deserting the room.

Misaki made a face after his retreating figure and muttered after the blonde was out of earshot, "Thanks for your help, jerk..." He guessed that he should take that as a hint to go and find one of those robots...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The Plant Alice had never imagined that a robot with a stationary metal face was even capable of looking at someone like they were an idiot. But that's just how the robot that he had found had looked at him when he had told it that he didn't know how to make up the bed once it had provided him with clean sheets and blankets.

A several hours later Misaki was sitting at the round little table in the corner of the dreary room trying to do his homework after having returned from having half eaten his dinner at the school dining hall surrounded by indifferent children he didn't know. And after having finally finishing his continued labour in changing the bed, washing the floor and thoroughly dusting the room he was drooping tiredly over his school books. But as challenging as the job had been for him- his mother had _always _done those things for him he'd realized; he had never really been aware of just how much he had really been taken care of his entire life until today- it had at least provided him with a good distraction for a while. His attempts so far at focusing on the chapters assigned to him in Social Studies weren't going so well.

Misaki looked out the window at the darkening sky and wondered distantly where that jerk Narumi had disappeared to. The kid didn't seem to have any friends, so where could he have gone for so long? Misaki couldn't remember having seen the boy at dinner, either. The attic room was quiet... too quiet. Weren't there supposed to be little kids living on that floor, too? Misaki put his head down on his folded arms...

If he was at home right now what would he have been doing? He might very well have been sitting at his kitchen table forced to do homework but at least his mom and dad would've been home. Or he might have been reading one of his many books or playing with his toys in his room...Misaki looked around with a sinking feeling at the starkness of the room he was in. There was nothing in here. The room was unbearably empty and intolerably silent. Even Narumi's ranting about the disgusting state of their no-star room would have been preferable to this silence.

Misaki really wanted to just stop trying to read the textbook and just curl up and go to sleep. At least if he was asleep then he wouldn't have to be awake. But he didn't know what his teachers might do, what punishment they might give him if he didn't finish the homework that he had been given...

The boy squeezed his eyes shut tightly...he just wanted to be at home. Misaki felt tears burning in his eyes again and he threw the textbook at the wall in anger and grief. His head sunk back down into his arms and his small body shook as he dissolved into sobs. Suddenly the door jerked opened and Narumi walked in, chucking his book bag on the floor beside the bed. Misaki sat up, startled, and wiped frantically at his eyes and damp cheeks in embarrassment, trying to turn away as the blonde's emerald gaze lingered on his face. Narumi's eyes lowered uncertainly for a moment before he moved towards his side of the room.

Misaki was surprised a second later when the blonde tossed a box of tissues to him and it hit the table top with a clatter as Narumi turned away to look out the window as he said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry about it...There are lots of kids crying in this place."

The Plant Alice pulled out a few tissues and wiped his eyes as he asked quietly, "Were they taken away from their parents, too? This school...how can they do things like this?"

Narumi turned his head to meet his desolate gaze with piercing eyes as he scoffed, "This _school_ can do whatever it wants..." He spat out the word 'school' like it was a profanity before stating bluntly (and a touch forlornly Misaki thought), "You're an Alice now, Misaki-kun...the world isn't the same anymore. Not for us..." Reddened eyes widened as the boy gave a bitter laugh that should never have been able to come from a six year old child and added sarcastically, "Welcome to Alice Academy."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-

A/N: I know this was a long chapter (twice as long as I had originally intended, actually) but if you have any energy left (LOL!) even a short review or comment would be appreciated. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: The Tyrant Prince Part 1

Author's note: Gakuen Alice and all characters from it are, of course, the property of its creator Tachibana Higuchi-with the exception of any original characters that I create myself.

This chapter was getting kind of long so I'll be presenting in two parts for easier reading...

By the way, 'Hayashi' is the name that I've given to the older teacher that appears in the manga but seems to be unnamed. He appears in the Gakuen Alice 'The Past' chapters and is the teacher who always seems to be trying to calm down a furious Jinno-sensei. He's also the teacher that Narumi, most memorably, used his Alice on to get him to pretend to be the horse to his carriage! LOL! Of course, if you haven't read the manga you'll have no idea what I'm talking about... I'd been calling him 'Horsehead-sensei' but I figured i'd better give the poor man an actual name so I chose a name that started with 'H' so that I'd still associate it with him. I only tell you this just in case I've accidentally missed changing one of the 'Horsehead''s to 'Hayashi'.

Anyway, on with the show and please be kind and review! And to **'Crazy About Coffee' **thanks so much for your support!

-o-o-o-

**Chapter 2:**

**The Tyrant Prince, the Precious Flower and the Greenhouse of Horrors**

**Part 1**

*7 years old*

Misaki was in his assigned seat in Hayashi-sensei's Social Studies class, a single gold star gleaming on his collar on a Tuesday morning in late August as he sat writing a letter to his parents, even though it had been almost a year now since he had been taken away from his mom and dad and enrolled at Alice Academy and he already knew without a doubt that he might never be allowed to mail any of the letters that he had written. But still...he wrote them- in this small way he felt he might be able to keep his connection to his parents alive. Misaki didn't want to allow himself to forget that there was still someone in this world to whom he belonged, that somewhere out there he still had a mom and dad that loved him. He didn't want to end up like Narumi.

"Oi!" The trouble-making blonde had exclaimed from beside him one homeroom period last semester when he had caught Misaki surreptitiously penning a letter home during Nishimura's class. "Are you _still_ writing letters to your parents, you featherbrain? You've been here almost a half a year now, stupid, haven't you figured out yet that no teacher in this school is _ever _gonna let you mail a single one of them no matter what they tell you?"

Misaki scowled at Narumi's nosiness and shielded his letter with his arm, "Can't you mind your own business? I already know that, I just...I just miss my mom and dad, okay?"

The Pheromone Alice gave him a mildly contemptuous look, "Kami...are you going to _cry_ again...because I'm fresh out of tissues."

The raven-haired boy glared at him. Misaki had been caught crying by Narumi that one time-okay, _maybe twice_-on that awful first day of his and now the blonde never let him forget it, taking the opportunity to mock his forcibly bestowed partner at every chance he got. "Do you always have to be such a jerk? ...Are you honestly telling me that you never miss your parents?"

"No," Narumi's reply came without skipping a beat; the bluntness of his tone surpassed only by the cold expression in his hard green eyes. "I don't."

"You're a liar..." Misaki muttered but even as he said it he felt a bit of a wary chill run through him at the coldness in the boy's eyes and doubt pricked at him. Either Narumi was an even better liar than Misaki had taken him for or...he'd actually _meant _what he said.

"Maybe," The blonde responded indifferently, keeping his eyes forward on his latest manga comic. "But then again, you can't miss what you don't remember..."

Misaki's pen paused in its motion on the Plant Alice's latest letter in Social Studies as he recalled that brief exchange with his former partner. Both boys had been greatly relieved when Nishimura-sensei had finally dissolved their reluctant and at times almost hostile partnership after Misaki had been at the school for a semester and he'd later learned from Class A's class president that Narumi had been at Alice Academy since he was three years old. No wonder the boy didn't remember his parents. Misaki wasn't sure if he envied Narumi for having no memory of his parents and was thus spared the pain of being separated from them or if he felt sorry for him.

Misaki had found himself wondering at first which he would choose if he had the choice but the answer had come to him with surprising ease. Even if he was given a choice...he would never want to forget his mom and dad. _Never_. They were the only ones in the world that loved him; the memory of their warmth was the only thing that was keeping his heart from freezing in this cold and alien place.

The Plant Alice's pen started to move again slowly and carefully as he thought about what to write. He knew that he ought to be paying attention to Hayashi-sensei's Social Studies lesson, but most kids didn't really so there was little to draw any special attention to him. If it was Nishimura-sensei's homeroom or math class that wooden metre stick would have met hard with the front of his desk making him jump out of his skin a long time ago but it was a well known fact that as long as his students stayed in their seats and kept quiet during his lesson that Hayashi-sensei would turn a blind eye to whatever other activities that the children chose to engage in. If Ojima was to be believed, even the usually diligent Kimura and Serina were guilty of using the man's class to paint their nails and pass notes to their girlfriends in class.

Hayashi was a long-time teacher as well but he looked to be maybe about ten years younger than Nishimura. He was the homeroom teacher for Class B and Misaki knew that many students in Class A wished that they had him for homeroom instead of Nishimura; they would be able to get away with so much more and the middle-aged man wasn't scary at all. Nishimura was a strict and unyielding disciplinarian that most kids were afraid to get on the bad side of (with the exception of Class A's spoiled Tyrant Prince who _clearly_ had too undeveloped a sense of self-preservation) whereas Hayashi was a rather benign and frequently lenient teacher. He even seemed to have a pretty kindly tolerance for Narumi's antics which was surprising given some of the stories that Misaki had heard from other students.

The Pheromone Alice had long ago wrapped the older man around his little finger according to Kimura and he was known for being frequently targeted whenever the little blonde boy wanted to go to Central Town to get something that he couldn't afford with his two-star allowance. Ojima claimed that Hayashi had had his wallet fleeced by Narumi so many times that that was why the man had been wearing the same tired-looking suit practically every day for the last few years. And yet, somehow, despite all this, the man _still _patted the thieving boy on his head like he was a favourite pet- Kimura had a theory that poor Hayashi must have been the victim of one too many Pheromone attacks and the boy's Alice had permanently etched an impression on his brain. No one could think of any other reason to account for the man being so nice to a boy who essentially stole from him on a monthly basis. Hayashi was also the teacher for the Somatic Ability Class that Narumi was in and was often seen carting the blonde boy along on his back as they went to class.

The only thing Misaki had ever heard Narumi himself say about the man was that if he was Hayashi-sensei and had the Alice of Metamorphosis he'd use it to make himself look younger. There was little excuse for walking around looking _middle-aged_ when he didn't have to.

The Plant Alice also thought that the blonde's marks in Social Studies were suspiciously high for a kid who didn't pay a lick of attention and seemed strongly opposed to the concept of homework but for some reason he seemed to test well and Misaki knew that that was really where the bulk of their grade was decided. He was sitting pretty solidly at a B+ in Social Studies but somehow Narumi seemed to always get an A or A+ even though he didn't work nearly as hard as Misaki which annoyed him to no end.

When the last class rankings for the semester had been posted on the bulletin board outside Class A's homeroom –a practice Misaki disliked as they had never posted everyone's grade up publicly in his old school and he thought that Alice Academy did it deliberately to shame poor students in front of their classmates (Ojima's grades being particularly shameful)- Misaki hadn't been able to help himself from comparing his grades to everyone else's especially to his sometimes nemesis Narumi.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**Misaki Kenshin**-o-o-o-**Narumi Anju**

Homeroom (Generalized Alice Education) -o-o-o-o-o- **B+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **C-**

Alice Ability Class (Technical and Somatic) -o-o-o-o-o-**A+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A+**

Japanese Language Arts -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **B- **-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A+**

English -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **C+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A+**

Social Studies -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **B+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o **A**

Mathematics -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **A **-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **C-**

Science -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **B**

Art -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **B+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A+**

Music -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **B-** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A-**

Physical Education -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **B+** -o-o-o-o-o-o-o- **A**

Misaki had scowled when he saw that Narumi had gotten higher marks than him in _six _out of _ten_ of their classes- he would just have to work harder he told himself...He'd tried but failed to quell the part of him that was grousing about _how on earth_ that lazy and negligent Pheromone Alice had managed to do so much better than him. Science and Math were really the only areas that Misaki really managed to trounce Narumi thoroughly in as they had always been his best subjects but they had proven to be the blonde's weak areas. Both subjects required a great deal of time spent studying and Narumi simply didn't have that kind of patience or work ethic. As for his higher mark in Homeroom...he didn't really think it counted if he was to be a fair judge of it. When Narumi had come up to crowd around the newly posted ranking sheets along with everyone else Misaki had heard him muttering under his breath about Nishimura hating him and being out to get him.

The very next morning Nishimura had shown up late for the very first time for homeroom without a _single hair on his head_. As everyone tried to stifle their laughter with their hands over their mouths at the irate and now completely bald man as he crossed directly to loom over Narumi's desk with dark and stormy face as he bit out, "Get up!" with his favourite metre stick clenched tightly in his fist.

The blonde had just continued to sit contentedly and tilted his head to look up at their homeroom teacher with a small smile playing at his lips as he greeted him with deliberate politeness, "Good morning, Sensei...You look a bit different this morning...Are you wearing a new suit?"

Nishimura's eyes flashed dangerously and Misaki was suddenly very glad that the man had finally let him move to a different desk at the end of the semester. "Get up, you little bastard!" The air of the entire class tensed immediately and several students turned their heads gingerly to see what was happening, including Misaki. Narumi's little smile of faux innocence had evaporated and he seemed paralyzed with fear as he stared white-faced at the metre stick that Nishimura was clenching so tightly. The blonde's breath caught in his throat and he couldn't get his rigid body to move an inch. "Are you deaf? I said on your feet!"

Nishimura grabbed Narumi by his arm and dragged him hard across the bench towards him with such ferocity that the boy fell to the white-tiled floor in front of the teacher. The man stooped down and grabbed a fistful of the blonde's shirt and yanked him bodily to his feet as he cringed and tried to pull away futilely from the iron grip Nishimura had on his wrist.

Kimura's eyes widened as her body clenched up with fear but the class president willed herself up rapidly on trembling legs. Nishimura wasn't the most dreaded teacher in the elementary branch for nothing she knew and tales of his anger were legendary..."Sensei..." she called quickly, her voice shaking in the dead silence of the room. "Nishimura-sensei, please...don't."

The man ignored her as he commanded, "Put out your hands!" Narumi froze and Nishimura shook him roughly, mocking the defiant boy before ordering once more. "What's the matter, boy, is your Alice not working? Put. Out. Your. Hands."

_Damn_..._anti-pheromone medication..._Narumi thought as he realized the reason his Alice hadn't had an effect when the man first came up to his desk and fear shot through him like a lightning strike with the knowledge that Nishimura would get to him before he could get to his restraining earring...

The blonde seemed to be moving in slow-motion with dread as he complied silently but when he saw the stick coming down towards them he flinched, involuntarily jerking his hands back. Nishimura growled and grabbed one of Narumi's tiny wrists in his large hand as he brought the wooden stick down hard on it again and again as the boy cried out with every blow.

"Sensei!" Kimura exclaimed but the teacher didn't respond. Misaki sat rigidly in his seat with wide eyes. As he watched helplessly the nine-year-old class president took careful but resolute steps towards the violently enraged man and Misaki swore to himself in that moment that _Kimura Hikari was the bravest girl alive_.

"Hikari-chan!" Serina whispered in alarm as she tried to grab at her friend as she moved away from the relative safety of their shared desk and closer to the abusive teacher but five-year-old Fututan was clutching onto her blouse in sheer terror crying piercingly. The blonde girl moved to hold the little boy tightly.

Kimura neared the teacher gingerly, trying to avoid getting hit by the man's back hand as he pulled his arm back after every strike to gain further momentum. The girl winced and shuddered every time she heard the sickening sound of the wood hitting Narumi's blazing red palm furiously. The blonde was biting down on his lower lip so hard that Kimura saw blood on his teeth and hot tears were streaming down his face. The fourth grader tried to touch the man's arm, shoulder, anything to get his attention and make him stop but she couldn't get any closer without possibly getting hit herself and she rapidly made up her mind and bolted out to get the nearest teacher that she could find.

Little Fututan was howling, his pale face wet with tears, as Nishimura released Narumi's hand and seized the other one to give it the same punishment. Misaki kept darting his eyes from Narumi to the classroom door, praying desperately that someone would come soon as he gripped the back of his chair so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Nishimura was hitting Narumi's already stinging and inflamed hand with such force that he was unable to keep from crying out and his breath came in gasps through his tears. Misaki stared in horror-what could Narumi have _possibly_ done to deserve being struck so many times? It had to be more than just whatever had happened to his hair! But Misaki couldn't think of anything that the boy could have done to warrant such harsh treatment...

If any teacher at his old school had struck even a single of those blows they would have been fired at the very least, quite possibly even arrested. But this was _Alice Academy_, wasn't it...and Misaki was figuring out pretty quickly that the same rules that applied to the rest the world didn't exist in here.

"Nishimura-sensei!" Sawajiri-sensei, their young English teacher, exclaimed as she burst into the room with Kimura fast on her heels. "_What _do you think you're doing?"

Nishimura paused and evenly lowered the metre stick as he turned to glance at his junior colleague matter-of-factly, "I am disciplining an extremely ill-behaved student, Sawajiri-sensei." The young woman's eyes bulged as she took in the older man's bald head shining with perspiration beneath the bright classroom lights and if it had been any other time the students would have snickered at her comically incredulous expression; she _clearly _hadn't seen Nishimura's new look yet. The man released Narumi's shaking hand and said to him with a steely voice, "Turn and face the back wall. You're not to move from that spot or talk to anyone until the bell rings, do you understand?"

"Yes, s-sir," Narumi responded quickly, hiccupping as he tried to calm his erratic breathing through his slowly dissipating sobs. He wiped the moisture from his flushed face with his sleeve as he turned to move to the back wall. This seemed to snap Sawajiri out of her shock at Nishimura's newly bald head.

"Hold it, Anju-kun," the young woman called quickly, as she met Nishimura's gaze with blatant disapproval in great contrast to her normally bubbly personality, "You come with me to the nurse's office, okay?" The blonde paused but didn't move. He stared fearfully up at the man with red, swollen eyes clearly too afraid to step past him. Sawajiri moved forward and stood in front of Nishimura, blocking him as she extended her hand to Narumi. "It's okay, sweetheart, just give me your hand." The boy hesitantly raised his hand and the young teacher gasped, wincing at the sight of Narumi's small raw-looking hand and reached out for his shoulder instead and guided him past Nishimura with a glare and out of the room. Misaki felt like the whole classroom breathed a long held sigh of relief.

Nishimura strode up to the front of the room and set the metre stick down coolly by the blackboard as he ordered sternly, "Turn to page 312 of your textbooks." The class stared at him in disbelief. Was this guy for real? But they moved quickly to comply, not a single student daring to be inattentive...

-o-o-o-

Misaki's hand stilled over his letter again. No, he definitely couldn't write about _that_ incident. His mom would worry herself to death if she heard that the head teacher at his school had beaten a little boy like that. Especially over something that was an embarrassing but ultimately harmless prank. He found himself beginning to understand more and more the unnerving bitterness that Narumi had revealed on the first day that Misaki had met him. The phrase "Welcome to Alice Academy" was starting to seem like a curse. Every time that the Plant Alice tried to write a letter to his parents he found himself instinctively censuring so much of what he wrote.

Kimura, who'd used her Alice of Heightened Senses to eavesdrop on Sawajiri and Hayashi in Principal Kuonji's office after homeroom, had revealed that Narumi, in his irritation over Nishimura's biased grades against him, had gone over to the elementary branch's faculty housing after school while he knew that Nishimura was away on detention duty and used his Alice to persuade Hayashi-sensei to let him in and show him to the head teacher's room. Apparently, after the man had left Narumi alone- as per his Pheromonally-issued orders- the blonde had gone into Nishimura's bathroom and carefully emptied the man's shampoo down the sink and replaced it with hair-removal lotion.

"It was _very_ naughty of him, I agree, "Sawajiri had said in an upset tone, "but, Principal, even _you_ have to admit that the punishment was far from equal to the crime. Nishimura's hair will grow back-not that he had that much to begin with and he can always just go buy a hair-growing hat- but that poor boy's hands are so swollen he can't even bend his fingers! He can't even hold utensils to feed himself much less write in class or do his homework! And his wrists are horribly bruised and sore as well-"

"Which student is this again?" Principal Kuonji inquired mildly.

"It's Narumi Anju, sir, from Class A." Hayashi replied quietly.

"Ah..." The principal's voice came, sounding thoughtful. "The Human Pheromone Alice that affects both genders equally? Is this the same boy who was able to make Nishimura-sensei clean the Gomi Bako in his place last year?"

"Yes, sir, "Sawajiri answered a bit tersely, "but what about _Nishimura-sensei_? This is unacceptable-!"

"I will speak to him, Sawajiri-sensei." Kuonji cut in smoothly. "So please don't upset yourself any further and when the Healing Alice returns to the hospital this evening she can treat Narumi-kun..."

"Weird," Kimura muttered under her breath to the small group of students who were congregating around her to take advantage of the class president's superior eavesdropping ability as she leaned back against a locker in the hallway near Principal Kuonji's office between classes. "The Principal seems more interested in Narumi's _Alice_ than in doing anything about Nishimura...but that's not really surprising. Naru's not the first student to get that punishment from Nishimura. At least he only got it on his hands...I heard there was an older boy in Class B who got beaten so badly he couldn't even sit or lie on his back and they had to get a Healing Alice."

Serina frowned, "When was that?"

"Uh, I think a few years back..." The Class President replied.

"Ah, Prez, always hears the best gossip," Ojima said jokingly to Misaki who was standing silently, clutching his Social Studies textbook to his chest. "That's why she's such a _popular_ girl..."

"As opposed to _Ojima-kun_, the biggest and worst gossiping hen in the whole elementary branch and still so _unpopular..._" The brunette shot back.

Ojima cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips in annoyance, "Did you just call me a _hen_-" The warning bell rang sounding the end of their ten minute morning break and Misaki quickly broke off from the still bickering older students to make his way to Social Studies with the other first and second graders.

-o-o-o-

The Plant Alice didn't quite make it through the door to Hayashi-sensei's Social Studies class before the bell rang and the girl that Misaki shared a desk with this term Yamada Seraphina, Serina-sempai's younger sister and nicknamed 'Sera', looked at him a bit reprovingly through her glasses as he moved to sit beside her.

"You're lucky; Hayashi-sensei must be running late," the blonde-pigtailed second grader greeted with a disapproving frown, "You would've been stuck on Gomi Bako duty...I suppose you were with my sister and those other gossipmongers that she calls friends."

Misaki chose to ignore Seraphina's slightly disdainfully toned last comment as he took out his textbook from his book bag on the bench between them, instead replying, "Hayashi-sensei is probably still in the Principal's office with Sawajiri-sensei..."

The blonde girl looked thoughtful, "Hmmm...I've never seen Sawajiri look so angry before. I was beginning to think that she didn't know how to make any other expression other than smiling like some life-sized doll. I have to say I'm surprised she stood up to Nishimura like that when she's clearly been intimidated by him ever since she starting teaching last year...I'm even more impressed that she's actually taken the initiative to complain to Principal Kuonji. Maybe there's a bit of hope for her yet...but I doubt that Kuonji will give two figs about what Nishimura did to Naru."

Misaki merely listened in silence as he flipped around in his notebook for last night's Social Studies questions. Such comments were customary for Yamada Seraphina and the dark-haired boy had grown accustomed to her outspoken and often critical ways ever since they'd worked together on a Science project last semester and somehow ended up becoming permanent study partners and something that most people would classify as 'friends'. In actuality, however, Misaki had always been especially nervous around girls and as Seraphina was an especially assertive girl the Plant Alice had just found himself going along with her.

"Hello, I'm Yamada Seraphina," the fellow classmate had said to him in an even and rather decorous tone as she had made a beeline for his desk shortly after their teacher had announced the project and said that the class could choose their own partners even though they'd never even spoken before. "You're Misaki Kenshin, right." The way she'd said it, it wasn't a question and the girl didn't wait for an answer. "I noticed that your name on the ranking sheet for this class right below mine and I thought that perhaps, as we're the two top science students, that we could be partners for this project."

Misaki had stared at Seraphina slightly unnerved as she sat down beside him, again without even waiting for an answer. Finally, he muttered helplessly, "Uh...I guess. Sure."

The blonde girl had exhaled in relief as she'd flashed him a wry smile, "Oh, thank Kami! I've been getting so sick of being forced to work with lazy idiots who just ride my coattails and don't contribute a thing!"

The project they'd worked on together had gotten the highest mark in the class and their teacher had commended their work to the students and said that it was an excellent example of what the other kids should be striving for. Seraphina had practically glowed with satisfaction at the man's emphatic praise while Misaki had slouched down as low as he could in his seat beside her as several of the students in the class turned to give them both death glares. Naturally, a certain blonde boy-Misaki hadn't been able to keep from noticing- hadn't even batted an eyelash much less look up from his book to acknowledge the accomplishments of his peers.

Seraphina had just turned to him, either oblivious to the other kids or simply not caring and exclaimed excitedly, "We should study together for the exam, Misa-kun! We can quiz each other!"

He'd just shrugged in agreement, frowning inwardly as he thought: _Did she just call me _Misa_?_

He supposed it made good sense for them to study together though. And ever since then the girl had stuck herself to him at every possible opportunity but after about half a year Misaki had finally gotten used to her, more or less. It had turned out that Seraphina was also in his Technical Ability Class as well, having an unusual Music-based Alice that produced many mysterious effects when she used the right composition but she was still struggling to understand and control her strange gift.

Her instrument of choice was a small flute that she carried around in her book bag at all times and practiced whenever she could. One day in Ability Class she'd played some random tune and it had started raining inside the classroom to everyone's irritation and she'd been screamed at by every drenched kid in the room. Another time a strange little song she'd been experimenting with made every male in class, including Misaki and their Ability Class moderator, break out into an odd and jerkily erratic dance of sorts and they hadn't been able to stop moving until she stopped playing which she'd been reluctant to do as she and all the girls had thought them quite entertaining and hadn't been able to stop giggling at them...

Misaki had been eating lunch with Seraphina every day for almost two weeks before he'd learned that she and Serina were sisters. All the students in Class A shared homeroom and all of their non-academic classes (art, music and physical education) together so the Plant Alice had been surprised that he hadn't realized that the two girls were related. She'd told him when she first introduced herself that her name was Yamada but somehow he hadn't made the connection.

They were strange sisters, he couldn't help but think, and they were almost complete opposites and rarely ever talked. Misaki had picked up very quickly the feeling that Seraphina didn't seem to quite like her older sister although she'd never actually said so directly. He wondered why...while it was true that Serina had never struck him as being particularly friendly-he'd always gotten the impression that she was just a reserved person- he'd never seen the older girl be mean to anyone either. Maybe it was just a sibling thing. Misaki figured he wouldn't know; he was an only child.

Unlike her sister, Seraphina didn't seem to make friends easily as most children seemed put off by her strong and brooding personality. The younger girl's appearance differed somewhat conspicuously from Serina's as well. Seraphina always seemed to be too absorbed in whatever book she was currently devouring or whichever new experiment she was contemplating to trouble herself with something as inconsequential as her appearance. Misaki had found himself being slightly more at ease with her over time because, for one reason, he kind of thought that she was very much like a boy in her straight-forward unselfconsciousness.

Seraphina didn't fuss with her hair or her face or her nails like Serina did; choosing instead to keep her similarly blonde-hued hair simply bound and out of her way in either a French braid or in two long braided pigtails and her vivid blue eyes always seemed oddly magnified by the round glasses she wore reminding Misaki of a character out of a cartoon. Besides Seraphina's somewhat comical appearance, her sharp tongue was undoubtedly also a considerable source of the other students' wariness but she was fairly well liked by all of the teachers. Even the ever-critical Nishimura-sensei couldn't really find any fault with her. Seraphina worked hard, studying constantly, and while she wasn't exactly shy, she was reserved and attentive in all of her classes.

Misaki had finally bonded with her over their mutual interest in science and they spent a lot of time in comfortable silence next to each other reading one book or another, only interrupting the other when they had found something that they thought the other might find interesting. Seraphina was a deep-thinker, he'd learned, but at the same time was very observant of what was going on around her. Misaki had begun to think jokingly to himself that the girl must have a second high-functioning brain somewhere because he'd never seen anybody, child or adult alike, who could multitask as constantly and infallibly as Yamada Seraphina. The Plant Alice frequently found himself either overwhelmed or intimidated by her assertive, almost aggressive at times personality but also in awe and respect of her rather formidable intellect. In the six plus months that Misaki had gotten to know her he had discovered that Seraphina had really only one serious and distasteful (to him) weakness..._Narumi Anju_.

The only time that Misaki had _ever_ seen Seraphina's articulateness fail spectacularly was any time that the girl had to talk to Narumi. Whenever that unfortunate incident occurred, it was like she became a completely different girl, as she spoke to him in the most nervous and awkward way imaginable as Narumi shifted his eyes about uncomfortably and impatiently as she attempted to compose a sentence like someone with an unfortunate speech impediment (while Misaki cringed for her in the background). The blonde stared at her like she was an idiot as she stumbled over her words red-faced and he more often than not ended up simply walking away from her with a painfully awkward look on his face.

The first time Misaki had mockingly asked Seraphina about her embarrassingly clumsy encounters with Narumi she'd responded by whacking him in the back of the head with her book bag so hard that he'd shot forward and knocked out a loose tooth on the edge of the desk and split his lip right open. She had apologized profusely and fussed anxiously over him as he bled beside her on the way to the nurse's office but needless to say, it would be a long time before the Plant Alice would get up his nerve to make fun of Seraphina again for her truly mystifying little crush on Narumi. Misaki was surprised, to say the least, that she had gone straight to their next class just as she always did instead of waiting around to find out what happened to Narumi-

"So, Misa-kun, did you hear anything about what happened to Naru?" the Music Alice's voice broke into his thoughts from beside him. Ah, he spoke too soon...

"From what Kimura-sempai said it sounds like he's still in the nurse's office," Misaki replied as he finally found his Social Studies homework and pulled it out of his notebook, ready to be handed in, "but the principal said that Narumi could be taken to the hospital this evening to be treated by the Healing Alice because his hands are-" Just then Hayashi-sensei entered with a pale but otherwise impassive-looking Narumi trailing quietly behind him holding two bags of ice, one in each hand. Even from across the room the dark hand-shaped bruises on the blonde's small wrists were easily visible to Misaki's lingering gaze.

"Good morning, everyone," Greeted the teacher courteously as always but Misaki could see that the man seemed preoccupied with something, "I'm sorry I'm late. As you can all see your classmate, Anju-kun, will be needing a little help for a while and someone to take notes for him...Is there anyone who would like to volunteer?" Hayashi carried Narumi's book bag and set it on his desk for him as he inquired for a helper for the blonde. Seraphina's hand went up like a shot and Misaki shook his head inwardly as he was rapidly deserted by his only friend. "Ah, good, Sera-chan, thank you very much..."

The girl went to sit beside Narumi as he rested his hands palm-up on the desk with the bags of ice still held in them with an irritated expression as Seraphina took the blonde's textbook out of his bag and opened it to the correct page in front of him. She pulled out her notebook and homework and sat as ready with her pen in her hand as a competitor waiting for the starting bell to go off as Hayashi began his lesson. Misaki couldn't help peering over his shoulder occasionally at the two and could see Seraphina speaking quietly at times but Narumi seemed to be ignoring both the girl and the textbook she'd placed in front of him, choosing instead to stare out the window.

Misaki pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and wrote carefully at the top: _Dear Mom and Dad_...He knew that he should pay attention to the lesson but he also knew that Seraphina could be relied upon to take detailed notes so he wouldn't miss anything important. Misaki wrote slowly, thinking hard and eventually detailed the marks that he had just seen yesterday, especially ashamed to admit that he had gotten only a C+ in English when his rival Narumi had gotten an A+. But then Narumi had only gotten a B and C- in Science and Math when Misaki had gotten an A+ and A in those same classes. The blonde's weak subjects were Misaki's best ones but the reverse was also true. While the Plant Alice had always struggled with grammar and English class they were ironically the two subjects in which Narumi truly excelled.

Sawajiri-sensei, their young English teacher, simply adored Narumi and was incessantly praising his impressive grasp of the English language. She also constantly called him by silly little pet names that Misaki had thought would surely have annoyed the irritable blonde but Narumi seemed unexpectedly amused by being frequently called "darling boy", "sweetheart" and "cutie pie" amongst other saccharine things by one of only three female teachers in the elementary division, the others being their middle-aged music teacher and Class B's Assistant-Sensei. Although the blonde didn't seem particularly fond of being called "goldilocks" while the pretty young woman ruffled his hair and cooed about how silky it was and Misaki had made a mental note to call him that sometime as he rolled his eyes. One time she'd done that very same thing while passing Narumi in the hallway and Misaki had heard Kimura muttering something indistinct in a disgruntled-sounding tone to Serina about, "that woman..._shameless_..._flirting _with a seven-year old boy..."

Then again Misaki figured that he shouldn't be surprised that Narumi, accomplished and articulate little liar that he was, would be the top student in both their Language and English studies but he seemed to hate math with a passion, not having the patience for it. And he was pretty sure that Narumi had gotten a C- on their science test last week when Misaki had, to his satisfaction, gotten an A.

In music class, Misaki always tried to sing as quietly as possible while still moving his lips to avoid getting in trouble-he knew his voice was awful ("A sound that could curdle milk itself..." Seraphina's brusque assessment echoed in his mind), embarrassingly so and he really didn't want to be heard-but somehow the teacher always seemed to be able to tell when he was lip-syncing. He'd noticed a bit resentfully that Narumi's voice sounded out high and sweet and clear ("Ah, he even has the voice of an angel..." Misaki had heard Seraphina murmur to herself with a little sigh while he'd scowled fiercely beside her)...that was in the rare moments when the blonde wasn't being uncooperative.

Most of the time the delinquent Pheromone Alice either blatantly refused to participate or deliberately sang out of time and made up strange lyrics to throw off the other students. But some of the blonde's 'compositions' seemed to have caught on with the younger kids as Misaki had begun to notice the kindergartener Fututan singing Narumi's "smelly socks" song- inspired by and loudly dedicated to Makihara-sempai (who'd body-checked the Pheromone Alice pretty hard earlier during gym class)- to himself.

Yesterday afternoon Kimura had thrown her song book at Narumi's head from the back row, snapping at him, "Knock it off, you brat!", as he'd obnoxiously sang out rhyming but utterly absurd words that made the other kids snicker. The Pheromone Alice had thrown the book back at her but then accidently hit the fourth grader Makihara in the face instead. Narumi's eyes had bulged in alarm and he sensibly made a run for it as the not-so-slightly plump older boy had thundered down the steps to chase the blonde out of the music room as the teacher shouted at them all the while and finally pinched the bridge of her nose like she was getting a headache.

Ten minutes later Narumi had returned smirking all too noticeably but his pursuer mysteriously didn't. Serina later found Makihara between classes, gagged and crammed inside her locker wearing one of the blonde's Alice inhibitors which had prevented him from teleporting himself out.

Despite the discord that the blonde often provoked in her class Misaki had seen their music teacher a few weeks back chasing after Narumi down the hall, begging him with folded hands to join the school choir.

"_Nooo waaay_!" The blonde's high-pitched reply had carried all the way down the hall to a sniggering Plant Alice. "Everyone knows the choir is only full of _girls_!" Narumi had made a face, and spat out the word 'girls' like it was something gross and not to be put up with.

In their art class Misaki still worked a little tentatively within the unexpected freedom of the subject but the little beast otherwise known as 'Narumi' was surprisingly soothed by the relaxed atmosphere. It'd turned out that the blonde was quite creative and actually pretty gifted artistically. Every class even the kids who usually stayed away from Narumi in wariness or just plain disliked him couldn't seem to help wanting to see what the dreaded Pheromone Alice had created.

One afternoon in math class last week Narumi had returned slightly late from lunch and had had the door slammed in his face by Nishimura just as the bell rang. The head teacher was especially strict regarding tardiness and he considered any student who hadn't crossed the threshold of the classroom door before the bell rang to be late. As soon as the bell sounded he would close the door and lock it, regardless of who was trying to come in. Last semester Ojima had had been hit right in the face by the slamming door and had been taken to the nurse's office by Hayashi-sensei with a bloody nose. Nishimura had left Narumi sitting in the hall for fifteen minutes before he finally went outside to fetch and chastise him but no one had been surprised when the man _didn't_ add the Pheromone Alice's name to the Gomi Bako duty list.

Ever since that time that Narumi had used his Alice to successfully compel the strong-willed head teacher into cleaning the Gomi Bako no other faculty member had had the nerve to try to use this punishment against the blonde. Instead Nishimura had added Narumi's name to the list of students made to serve detention with him, under the threat of rank demotion.

The man had figured out that this was the most legitimate threat in the young boy's mind- his Alice would have no effect whatsoever on the housekeeping robots that were completely obedient solely to the authorities that they were programmed to recognize. They would enforce the will of the school unflinchingly, to the children's dismay. But Nishimura had discovered that Narumi would rather suffer the depravation of a no-star status than to be made to clean the revoltingly pungent Gomi Bako and there was no teacher in the school who had the power to make the boy do it against his will. Taking the recently developed Anti-pheromone medication didn't work against an Alice as powerful as Narumi's as the boy had already somehow figured out that the medication had no effect if the blonde removed even a single of his Alice inhibitors.

The students of Class A reckoned that with all of the detentions that Narumi had received from Nishimura in the last year alone the boy must have copied half the dictionary by now...

In the art class directly following math, an annoyed and inspired Narumi had sketched a caricature of a surprisingly good likeness to a bushy browed and scowling Nishimura-sensei wielding his wooden metre stick like it was a sword. Ojima had seen it and cackled and then proceeded to pass it around to the rest of the class, who'd snickered and praised Narumi for just how well he'd captured the older man's mien. Even the apple polishing Class President, Kimura Hikari, had been unable to suppress a smirk. Their art teacher, Yamaguchi-sensei, a bohemian-looking young man with wild dark hair in tight jeans and a white poet's shirt, had taken the sketch from her in curiosity as to the source of his class' amusement.

He'd just lifted his eyebrows and grinned, "Ah, Narumi-kun, you'd better hide this well. It's another detention in the making if Nishimura-sensei sees this..."

_Riiiing! _Misaki looked up from his letter, startled by the sound of the bell ringing. Had he really been writing all class? He quickly shoved his things back into his bag and shouldered it, looking towards Seraphina but she seemed busy with Narumi, packing up and carrying both his book bag and her own, and the girl didn't even glance at Misaki. The Plant Alice just shrugged and made for their last class before lunch on his own, trying to ignore the irritated feeling that was rising up within him...

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 21: Late Night Visitor

A Lifetime of Memories

Author's note: Gakuen Alice and all characters from it are, of course, the property of its creator Tachibana Higuchi-with the exception of any original characters that I may create myself.

Since a lot of people have already probably seen this later chapter of the story, I've decided to just add it on for now and re-edit the chapters into their chronological order as I progress. I'm not exactly certain but I'd guess that this would fall somewhere around the twentieth or maybe twenty-first chapter. (I plan to write a minimum of one chapter for every year of Narumi's and Misaki's life since they first met, so that would be my guess...)

Chapter 21: A Late Night Visitor

(Narumi and Misaki at 24 years old)

It was after one o'clock on Saturday night and Narumi was sitting up in bed comfortably propped up by a few pillows reading when a frantic knock sounded on his bedroom door and Serina-sensei abruptly opened the door without waiting for a response. The blonde looked at his colleague in surprise as it had never been like her to barge into his room and also much more conspicuously, she was standing in his doorway in her housecoat, soaking wet.

"Naru!" Serina exclaimed with water from her drenched hair dripping in her face, "A pipe in my room burst! It's spraying water everywhere! I'm sorry but-" she began to apologize but Narumi had already flung back the covers and gone past her, hurrying down the hall to Serina's room.

By the time Narumi had ascertained that the old pipe above Yamada-sensei's bed had indeed burst and gone down to the basement of the old historic house that served as the Elementary Branch's faculty housing and located the main water valve and shut it off it, her bed and room was completely soaked. Narumi dropped the wrench he had used to turn the stubborn old valve back into the toolbox and rushed back upstairs to check if the pipe had stopped. Fortunately it had and was quickly tapering off as the remaining water in the pipes ran out.

Narumi sighed in relief, "I think I shut off all the water in the house but at least it stopped. Serina-sensei, you can stay in my room for now and we'll call for someone to come fix this in the morning."

Serina squeezed the water out of a handful of her hair onto the already soaked floor of her bedroom and rubbed tiredly at her eyes, "Thanks, Naru, but where will you sleep?"

Narumi shrugged, "Don't worry, I'll find somewhere."

Soon enough Serina was comfortably ensconced in Narumi's room and he was headed down the hall in his robe over his light blue cotton pyjamas with his toothbrush, hairbrush and a change of clothes for morning in his hands. He knocked quietly and poked his head in Noda-sensei's room but to his disappointment the man was fast asleep and snoring softly. Of all the times for Noda to _actually _be there and not lost in the past somewhere- just when Narumi had wanted to borrow his bed for the night, too.

_Oh, well_, he thought with a sigh, _but there's __**no way**__ I'm sleeping on that lumpy old couch in the living room! Ah, the price of being a gentleman..._

Narumi silently let himself into the room that was marked Misaki overhead and set his things down on a desk. The room's occupant was still sleeping, unaware of his late night visitor. Narumi took off his robe and hung it over the back of the desk chair in the dimness of the room and then made his way over to the bed where Misaki was sprawled out.

The blonde gave his friend a poke, "Misaki-sensei..." The man didn't stir and Narumi gave his shoulder a light shake, "Misaki-sensei..."

The man groaned, grumbled something unintelligible and started for a moment at the dark silhouette hovering over him in the darkness. "Naru?" he muttered irritably, having recognized the voice that had awoken him. "What is it?"

Narumi lifted up the corner of Misaki's heavy comforter and demanded blithely, "Move over, would you? You're sprawled all over the whole bed!"

Misaki half sat up, taken aback as Narumi got into bed with him without preamble. "What are you doing?" he asked in surprise as he automatically drew himself over to the other side of the bed while the blonde set his head on an extra pillow.

"I thought that was obvious, Misaki-sensei," Narumi said and Misaki heard the mischievous smile in his voice. "I'm sleeping in your bed."

Misaki frowned, "I can see that...but why?"

Narumi snuggled down beneath the comforter and smirked, "Well...I was _bored _so I thought that we could have a _sleep over_ since tomorrow's Sunday and we can sleep in." The plant Alice could definitely hear the heart at the end of that sentence.

Misaki scoffed, "You're joking, right? What time is it?"

Narumi yawned, "I don't know- maybe close to two o'clock now." He pulled the cover up beneath his chin and turned on his side, with his back to the frowning Biology teacher and closed his eyes.

"You didn't answer my question." Misaki pressed when his unexpected bed mate didn't continue.

Narumi responded tiredly, ready to go to sleep, "A pipe burst in Serina-sensei's room so I gave her my room."

"A pipe burst?" Misaki repeated questioningly.

"Yeah, I just turned off the water for now but we'll have to call someone..." Narumi yawned loudly.

Misaki said thoughtfully, "Well, it's an old house. This whole place really needs to be brought up to code..."

"Ha!" Narumi exclaimed, "Tell that to Principal Kuonji! It's not like this school doesn't have the money; he's just being stingy."

"Yeah..." Misaki trailed off, thinking, "Couldn't you sleep in Noda's room?"

Narumi sighed inwardly, just wanting to go to sleep, "No, he's actually here- I checked...So, good night, Misaki-sensei."

Misaki glanced toward the dark form stretched out beside him, "Uh, okay...good night, I guess." It wasn't long before the sound of Narumi's soft breathing evened out in slumber beside his dark haired friend but Misaki lay awake for some time before finally drifting off to sleep.

A familiar scent was tickling the plant Alice's still half-asleep nose and his sleep fogged brain sluggishly tried to identify it. Misaki's eyes fluttered open slowly in the early morning light and settled on the source of the gentle scent that had stirred him to wakefulness. Narumi had turned towards Misaki in his sleep and his blonde shoulder-length hair was splayed out against the pillow. Misaki had awoken near the edge of his own pillow with his face inches away from his friend's sweet-smelling locks.

There wasn't _any_ flower that Misaki couldn't identify by smell alone and he couldn't help but lean a bit closer in curiosity and as a challenge to himself. It was definitely a flower-like scent- it wasn't a fruity smell like some shampoos- it was...jasmine? The plant Alice carefully took another whiff to confirm his decision. Yes, he was sure; it was jasmine. But that wasn't all; that was only his hair...The most intoxicating scent was coming from Narumi himself and Misaki could feel his heart beating steadily as he fixed his dark eyes on his friend's sleeping face in the weak light that spilled in from the window.

_It must be dawn_, Misaki thought distantly as he drank in Narumi's softly illuminated face. _He looks so angelic when he's asleep...you'd never guess what a demon he can be when he's awake._

Misaki's heart thudded against his chest and his breath came a bit unsteadily...he felt so..._overwhelmed_ by the oblivious man sleeping next to him suddenly. It was as if he had abruptly awoken to find himself sharing the same bed as the most _beautiful_ person he had ever seen...

Narumi's golden hair was splayed about his head like a halo and Misaki suddenly found himself wanting to touch it, wanting to see if it was as soft as it looked. His skin was pale and flawless in dawn's early light and his eyelashes were so long and full...Misaki found his hand moving of its own accord to tentatively touch Narumi's wavy shoulder-length tresses and they slid through his fingers like the finest silk. He wound a lock of his friend's blonde hair around his finger as he gazed at Narumi's face, at his pale pink lips slightly parted in sleep. Misaki sucked in a breath and bit down on his own lip...

_Dear God_, he thought as his eyes lingered intently on Narumi's enticingly full and soft looking mouth, _I wonder...what must it be like to kiss those lips?_

Narumi had stolen many pheromone-induced kisses from Misaki over the years that had sent him almost immediately into darkness but Misaki had never _really_ kissed Narumi, had he? And swiftly, overwhelmingly...he wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to capture Narumi's lips with his own...wanted to possess every part of him. Misaki felt like his mind and body was suddenly _ablaze_ and that the only thing that could put him out was to close the space between he and the exquisite being beside him...to be as close to him as was humanly possible...

Misaki supported his weight on his elbow and leaned in until he was so close that he could feel the warmth of Narumi's breath against his face and then slowly, softly let his lips graze over the peacefully slumbering man's mouth. Narumi didn't stir against the feather-light touch and further emboldened, Misaki pressed a gentle kiss to the soft warmth of his lips. Slightly breathless at the sensation, he reached with his other hand to cup Narumi's smooth cheek in his palm and simultaneously leaned in to capture his friend's lips with his own, darting out his tongue to trace the blonde's plump lower lip. Misaki felt Narumi's body abruptly stiffen beneath his own but he was too consumed with the feel of his lips moving over the golden-haired man's to think of anything else and when he felt Narumi gasp he took the opportunity to further deepen the kiss. He pushed his tongue past Narumi's parted lips and began to fully explore the wet warmth of his mouth while pressing his upper body harder against his friend's. Narumi's hands had moved to grip his shoulders tightly and when Misaki moaned into his mouth he felt Narumi's body shudder against his.

Misaki was kissing Narumi slowly and deeply, his tongue stroking the other's when he slowly became aware that his friend wasn't _gripping _his shoulders...he was _pushing_ on them. Narumi was trying to push him away...trying to turn his head, his mouth _away _from Misaki's. The plant Alice froze and numbly allowed himself to be pushed away. Narumi was staring up at him with wide emerald eyes and flushed cheeks and his breath was coming in rapid and unsteady gasps. Misaki suddenly felt like the life was draining out of him and slumped back down beside his friend, his whole body abruptly limp.

The dark haired man's eyes widened with recognition. It felt like his body and mind had suddenly gone weak after an adrenaline rush...and the only thing that remained of the blaze that had been searing him was the humiliation burning in his cheeks. Although Misaki was still weakened he slowly pushed himself back in shock and dismay until he slid off the edge of the bed, hard, and just lay there panting and unable to move.

After a minute or so, but what felt like a lot longer to Misaki, Narumi poked his head over the side of the bed and looked down at him with a slightly strained sounding laugh. "Oi, Misaki-sensei, and people call _me_ a pervert!" Misaki's face burned in embarrassment and he glared fiercely up at the blonde as Narumi folded his arms in front of him and rested his head on them with an amused smile.

"You..." Misaki growled weakly from the floor, "You used your Alice on me in your sleep..."

Narumi looked thoughtful, raising his eyebrows, "I did?"

The biology teacher glowered at him, "I don't _believe_ you!"

The Human Pheromone Alice raised his head abruptly, face flushing, "Well, _if_ I did it's not like I did it on purpose! I was _asleep_ and...and you were the one molesting _me_!" Misaki's cheeks reddened and he sputtered unintelligibly at the accusation. "I would have been better off sleeping next to Noda-sensei...I never imagined I was sharing a bed with such a pervert!" Narumi touched his swollen lips and laughed.

Misaki slowly forced himself to sit up, glaring at his friend. "I'm not a pervert!"

The blonde looked down at him with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile, "Geez, I'm just joking! Don't worry about it...these things happen with this kind of Alice. Get up from there..."

Misaki frowned, "What do you mean 'these things happen'?" He looked up at his friend apprehensively- had this happened to Narumi before? The pheromone Alice had been shocked at first but now he was acting like his having been very nearly physically assaulted by him was nothing...

"I thought you would have taken anti-pheromone medication- you usually do," Narumi continued as he sat up and extended a hand to help Misaki to his feet, "although I had no idea that I could even use my Alice in my sleep...Come to think of it, that might actually explain a few things..."

Misaki ignored the hand that Narumi offered and kept sitting with a frown, "Well, sure I take the medication during the day sometimes but not at night. You came in so late I didn't think about it..."

His friend shrugged dismissively and then yawned, "So, just take it now and go back to sleep...It's not even six-thirty yet." Narumi crawled over to his side of the bed, flopped back down and then buried himself once more beneath the covers, closing his eyes.

Misaki took a deep breath and, feeling a bit stronger, carefully got up and went to his bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. He popped out two anti-pheromone capsules from the aluminum packaging and turned on the faucet to drink them but just a little water came out. Right- Narumi said that he had turned off the water to stop the burst pipe in Serina-sensei's room. They would have to get that fixed right away- there was no way that a houseful of people could go without water. Misaki knew a Metal Alice from his Technical class that could easily fix the pipe but he didn't want to bother the kid on their only day off a week...

He used the small amount of water that he had been able to catch in his cup by the sink and downed the two capsules. Misaki lingered indecisively in the bathroom and caught his reflection in the mirror. His cheeks were still tinged pink...how embarrassing. Pheromones or no pheromones, Misaki still couldn't believe that he had completely lost control and _kissed _Narumi like that...

_That kiss_... He could still remember all too clearly the silkiness of Narumi's golden hair... the smoothness of his cheek...the heated softness of his mouth... and the way he had _shuddered_ against Misaki's body... Misaki felt his heart speed up at the thought of it, beating like a drum.

Crap. His face was flushing again. Damn, he wished he had some cold water to splash on his face...He needed to get that pipe repaired A.S.A.P. so that Serina could go back to her room and Narumi could get out of his...

Misaki sat down on the edge of the bathtub waiting for his thudding heart to slow down and cursing the stupidity of his body. _Intellectually_ he knew that what he had felt and done to Narumi was just a result of the man's overwhelming Pheromone Alice but his _body_...that was another matter. It wasn't like he actually _liked_ his friend like that...but then _why_ couldn't he stop thinking about what had just happened?

The dark haired man scowled at his own reaction. And Narumi had just gone back to sleep like nothing had happened...the twisted freak. Having been born with _that _kind of Alice maybe he had just become accustomed to kissing and being kissed by strangers. Not that he and Narumi were strangers- they had known each other almost all their lives. Misaki could scarcely remember a time when he hadn't known Narumi...that strange, arrogant boy with the piercing eyes and the Alice that could capture and control anyone; the Alice that could turn the deepest hatred into adoration by virtue of mere proximity.

Narumi had told him once, after Yuka had fled the academy and subsequently abandoned him to life alone in the school that had had no qualms about using him in any way that benefitted it, that his Alice was really just a joke. The cruellest of jokes, he had said quietly with such a cold look in his eyes and a smile of such bitterness at his lips that Misaki had been unable to do anything but stare. The irony of a boy born with an Alice that could make _anyone_ love him and yet...because of that same Alice _no one_ had ever really loved him.

But what did Misaki _want _from him anyway? A large part of him was just relieved that Narumi in his typical careless fashion hadn't really made a big deal about what had happened, other than calling him a pervert, but another part of him was...what? Annoyed...no...a little _hurt,_ was it, that Narumi had basically acted like Misaki's kiss hadn't meant anything?

The plant Alice shook his head...what the hell was he thinking? It was just a pheromone-induced kiss: it _didn't _mean anything. It didn't.

It wasn't like he had kissed Narumi when he had been himself...he _wouldn't _kiss Narumi if he was himself, would he? No. What was he thinking? Misaki wasn't gay, he had never been attracted to men... but then Narumi had always been rather androgynous looking even _before_ he had taken to dressing femininely. Narumi had _always_ looked like that, since the first day that Misaki had met him when they were six years old. He'd always had those beautiful, powerful eyes with those ridiculously long lashes that any girl would have killed for. He'd always had that shining, silky hair...that delicate face and those pretty, pouting lips...

Oh, crap...Misaki's head sunk down into his hands in dismay and confusion at his thoughts. Narumi may have been a man but he was unlike any other man that Misaki had ever known. Narumi was just...Narumi. He was in a category of his own...in fact he defied categorization. Narumi puzzled him, he always had.

He infuriated Misaki... he pulled him in but pushed him away...he made him care but then hid himself away...Narumi could be next to him smiling one moment but run away the next...

Misaki had never forgotten that day...the day when he had truly begun to see Narumi for the first time. To see the face hidden beneath the mask...

The pain in Narumi's eyes when he had begged Yuka to let him come with her, to not leave him, still haunted Misaki. The childlike way he had clung to her hand in his sorrow and desperation and wouldn't let go... Narumi's feelings for Yuka weren't gone, Misaki knew, they were just somewhere out of his reach. Just like Yuka, who had gone but taken that crucial part of his heart with her...

Even though it had been _Misaki _who had watched and worried over him all these years...Narumi would never cling to Misaki's hand like that.

But the real question was: did he want him to?

Misaki rose numbly from the edge of the bathtub, turned off the bathroom light and got back into bed. Narumi had turned on his side once more with his back to Misaki but he didn't think that the blonde had fallen asleep yet if the sound of his breathing was anything to go by.

The plant Alice lay in bed silently for a long time before finally flinging back the covers in frustration. He was tired but he couldn't fall back to sleep- he might as well just get up. Misaki put on his slippers and pulled on an old fleece robe over the long-sleeved t-shirt and sweats that he wore, glancing back once at Narumi who hadn't stirred at all, before padding out of his room.


End file.
